Cyber Security

Cyber Security

1. Key Terms

   • Cyber Security
     • refers to the range of measures that can be taken to protect computer systems, networks and data from unauthorised access or cyberattack.
   • Threat
     • A threat is an incident or an action which is deliberate or unintended that results in disruption, down time or data loss.
       • Internal Threat = caused by an incident inside an organisation
       • External Threat = caused outside the organisation
   • Attack
     • An attack is a deliberate action, targeting an organisation’s digital system or data.
   • Unauthorized Access
     • This refers to someone gaining entry without permission to an organisation’s system, software or data.
       • This is achieved by exploiting a security vulnerability

2. Hackers

   • Hacker
     • Is someone who seeks out and exploits these vulnerabilities.
   • Black Hat Hackers
     • Is someone who tries to inflict damage by compromising security systems
   • Grey Hat Hackers
     • Is someone who does it for fun and not with malicious intent
   • White Hat Hackers
     • Is someone who works with organisations to strengthen the security of a system

3. Types of threats

   • Malware
     • Malicious Software
       • This is an umbrella term given to software that is designed to harm a digital system, damage data or harvest sensitive information.
     • Virus
       • A piece of malicious code that attaches to a legitimate program. It is capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer.
     • Worm
       • Worms get around by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems and attaching themselves to emails. They self replicate at a tremendous rate, using up hard drive space and bandwidth, overloading servers.